Where did the idea of patterns and pattern language come from?
This is an idea developed by Christopher Alexander, [Salingaros] (Professor of Architecture at the University of California at Berkeley since 1963), to enable the handling of complex issues involved in urban and building design. The ideas have been enthusiastically embraced by the software engineering, object oriented design community. For an introduction to the ideas from their perspective see [Lea]. There, it is the formal use of pattern rules to capture complex abstract structures that are emphasized. It would appear that HCI design is much closer to the architectural roots of pattern language, as the feelings that users have about their computer systems are important to us, just as the feelings dwellers have about their houses are relevant to architects. (Interestingly, Apple’s “Macintosh Human Interface Guidelines”, [Apple Computer, Inc.], contains a reference to Alexander’s “A Pattern Language” [Alexander, et. al., 1977] in the “Environmental Design” section of its biblography.)
